Wandering Wednesdays – Mobile Game Quick-Looks August 28th

Mobile gaming is becoming more and more commonplace but sorting through that junk is often pretty difficult. Writing full reviews for mobile games is often tedious and boring but we still want to be able to help you guys out when it comes to figuring out what is worth your time, so sorting through the crud is what Wandering Wednesdays is all about. Each week we’ll look through the app store and try out a few of the latest releases, letting you know if something is worthwhile or not. This week I dueled as a gladiator, managed a colony of dragons and took over my real-life town and my wife Diana gets her romance on- without me. ~Chris

City builders, kingdom builders, farm managers, theme park managers, and others, all offer the thrill of running one’s own little empire but it has always been in someone else’s virtual world. Tiny Tycoons brings some of the elements of these types of games (buying and managing property for a profit) to the real world by allowing players to take control of their real hometowns. Have you ever wanted to own the local pizza place, or the car wash, or maybe even the movie theater? You can in Tiny Tycoons. It has some issues, mainly that it limits how much you can do in a play session by setting play to a happiness timer but the novelty of buying up real local property is the draw and it does it well enough that the minor issues don’t truly infringe on the enjoyment factor.

Gameloft’s Asphalt series is one of the longest running on mobile, dating back nearly a decade. Asphalt 8is the latest edition to the arcade racing series. Asphalt 8 packs a great sense of speed but the controls feel over-responsive. The arcade nature of the gameplay allows the controls to be a bit squirly but as someone who has come to appreciate tight controls in his iOS games, I don’t necessarily want something that is just marginally passable. As a cheap Need for Speed knock off, it works but there are far better racing games available on iOS. As a cheap Need for Speed knock off, it works but there are far better racing games available on iOS. As a cheap Need for Speed knock-off it works but with so many racing games on the App store now, it is hard to recommend a mediocre one.

Who doesn’t like dragons? I’m sure there are some people but those people are also probably bad people. For the rest of us, we can’t get enough of the flying, fire-breathing lizard creatures. Spacetime Games’ latest title, Battle Dragons, lets you build a colony of dragons and attack others with your army. Half city building, management sim and half real-time tactical strategy, the game does a great job of introducing you to the various elements of the gameplay and hooking you in. It’s fortunate that the core mechanics are fun and compelling though because like a lot of other games, gameplay is time-gated and progression takes sometime unless you are willing to pay.

It seems like every week there has to be at least one endless runner. Sheep Happens is the latest to join the fray. While the aesthetic is quite cool, taking place in a gladiatorial Colosseum and featuring some great looking characters, I just wasn’t hooked. Even so, it does what it sets out to do perfectly and for fans of endless runners, this is an easy recommendation.

Matching games, like Candy Crush, are highly popular and it is no surprise that more are always popping up. Jelly Splash is the latest of these types of games. The twist with Jelly Splash though is that instead of matching three gems, candies, what-have-you, you’ll match a string together by drawing a line. The more you connect, the bigger bonus you’ll receive which is key to clearing certain levels and advancing. As the challenges get more and more demanding, the fun of the core gameplay ramps, so it might be a slow burn but if you are a fan of these types of games, it is worth it to stick with it.

Everlove: Rose is a choose your own adventure love story featuring a young woman on a search through her past life to find the source of her nightmares. Rose travels to a previous life with the help of her therapist, Dr. Alyse. The game play is fairly routine with a guided path and mini games to help move the story along. At points throughout the game, Rose make choices in response to others or situations that change the course of story. Everlove: Rose is a good choice for ladies who like a nice romance, but want to have some control over the heroine. As a way to spend some time on a train ride or while waiting in line it is nice change of pace from Candy Crush. ~Diana

A copy of the game was provided to us for this feature.

Are you you sampling any mobile titles this week? What are you playing? Let us know in the comments below.